Vermont will exhaust its federal funding through the Children's Health Insurance Program at the end of January, said Cory Gustafson, commissioner of the Department of Vermont Health Access.

CHIP serves about 9 million children nationwide. Congress allowed funding to expire at the end of September, and despite bipartisan support for the program, lawmakers have been unable to reauthorize its funding.

In Vermont, CHIP is a funding source for the Dr. Dynasaur program, which provides health coverage for children and pregnant women. CHIP allows Vermont to receive a high federal match rate, Gustafson said.

Gustafson says no Vermont families would lose insurance coverage as a direct result of CHIP funds running out, but state legislators would need to grapple with an estimated $21 million hole in the current year's budget.

Gustafson hopes the situation doesn't become that "tense."

"We are still holding out hope that the slow wheels of Washington, D.C., will turn when the urgency hits enough states," Gustafson said.

The Department of Vermont Health Access was unable to provide statistics on how many Vermont children directly benefit from CHIP funds.

"When you lose federal dollars, it puts pressure on the state budget, and that is the impact of this potential change," Gustafson said. "If they don’t reauthorize the funding, we are at risk of needing greater state dollars."

Contact April McCullum at 802-660-1863 or amccullum@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @April_McCullum.
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